Profile mill having axially adjustable cutter heads



United States Patent Robert E. Chapman Vancouver. British Columbia. Canada 845,598

June 25, 1969 Dec. 29, 1970 Ernest E. Runnlon Shelton, Wash.

Continuation of application Ser. No. 610,552, Jan. 20, 1967, now abandoned.

Inventor Appl. No. Filed Patented Assignee PROFILE MILL HAVING AXIALLY ADJUSTABLE CUTTER HEADS 5 Claims, 5 Drawing Figs.

U.S. Cl. 144/323, 1441134 Int. Cl. B27c l/08 Field of Search 144/ l 3,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Lennerton Carlson Rahaim Runnion.... Mitten Mitten Primary Examiner-Gerald A. Dost Attorney-Seed, Berry & Dowrey ABSTRACT: System employing multiple coaxial sets of diametrically opposite cutter heads to profile logs of small diameter conveyed along a linear travel path. As an accommodation to different sizes of logs, the sets are shiftable endwise to their axis to bring a selected one of the sets into a functioning positioner, conversely, the log path is shifted laterally.

Pmmnnmmm 3,550,656

ROBE RT E. CHAPMAN INVENTOR.

g\/ war RNEYS PROFILE MILL HAVING AXIALLY ADJUSTABLE CUTTER HEADS This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 610,552, filed Jan. 20, 1967, now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION US. Pat. No. 3,259,157, issued to Ernest E. Runnion under date of Jul. 5, I966, teaches the procedural steps of conveying a log horizontally along a linear travel path through a cutting station occupied by cutter heads, and by the profiling action of such heads producing from the log a cant faced about its entire perimeter by meeting flats. Where the log being profiled has a diameter between 5 and 8 inches approximately, the shape usually given, to the log is either square or rectangular. With logs of larger diameter, the profiling is or may be such as to give a pyramid shape, which is to say that ascending steps are provided above the logs horizontal diameter and descending steps below such diameter, the ris r faces of the descending steps being coplanar with those the ascending steps. In

either such case a set of at least one pair, and usually two pairs, of cutter heads has been provided. The two heads of each pair lie diametrically opposite one another and rotate about a respective one of two paralleling axes. In the profile mill which the above-identified patent discloses, as with later versions previous to the present invention, adaption of the mill to the production of more than one size of cant has been accomplished by shifting the paired cutter heads directively toward and from one another. Jacks operated by pressure fluid, either pneumatic or hydraulic, have usually been employed. Due to the rather extreme expansion pressure which is passed from the log into the head as the profiling proceeds, it is necessary that the heads be locked in the positions to which they are shifted. Systems to provide this shift-and-lock action have been expensive to construct, particularly where the locking has been of a positive nature. The present invention is one in which each of a plurality of cant sizes are produced by a respective one of plural pairs of cutter heads, with selection provided through the instrumentality of shifting the heads axially into cutting positions rather than, as heretofore, by moving the same toward and from the conveyed log.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the accompanying drawing:

FIG. I is a fragmentary'somewhat schematic side elevational view illustrating an embodiment of the present invention designed to profile logs of differing diameters into foursided cants, the log being shown in phantom and phantom lines being also employed to indicate the manner in which produced cants of, say, 4 inches by 4 inches and 4 inches by 6 inches size are later sawed into 2 inches by 4 inches dimensional lumber.

FIG. 2 is a similar view showing an embodiment of the invention designed for the production of hexagonal posts; and

FIGS. 3 and 4 are elevational views illustrating combination drive and guide rollers used in conjunction with the cutter heads.

FIG. 5 is an elevation view partially in section illustrating cutter head and chipping means.

DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION It is to be understood that logs which are to be profiled are conveyed along a linear travel path through a chipping station occupied by cutter heads which act upon the conveyed log from each of two diametrically opposite sides. Two conveyors act upon the log. One has an infeed function, moving the log into the chipping station. The other lies immediately behind the chipping station and without interruption in the logs travel takes over from the infeed conveyor as soon as the leading end of the log progresses beyond the cutter heads, the log having been then reduced to the desired cantshape which, as I have here elected to illustrate the chipping heads, is faced either by four flats (FIGJI) each lying normal to a next adjacent flat or by six flats (FIG. 2) each angled 60 from a next adjacent fiat.

In the FIG. 1 embodiment l have elected to show a mill which will produce from suitable size logs either a 2 inches by 4 inches cant, a 4 inches by 4 inches cant, or a 4 inches by 6 inches cant, selectively. Each said out is performed by a respective set of two matching cutter heads, as 10-11, 12-13, and 14-15. A single livemandrel 16 is common to all of the heads 10, 12 and 14, and single live mandrel I7 is common to all of the heads 11, 13 and 15. Each cutter head mounts a plurality of suitable chipping means 19 to perform the desired chipping function in forming the cant. A yokelike frame 20 straddles the sets of cutter heads and provides thrust and journal bearings for the two mandrels, positioning the latter so that the axes of rotation are parallel and extend transverse to the path of travel of the log L, equidistantly spaced at opposite sides of a diameter of the log. Motors 21 and 22 for driving the mandrels are carried-by the frame. While for simplicity in illustration the mandrels are shown as being direct-driven the drive desirably is or may be passed to themandrels by belts. The rotation of the cutter heads is such as to make a climbcut. This is to say that the knives of the cutter heads cut in the direction of the log's travel so that high grade pulp chips rather than hog fuel result from the chipping operation.

The cutter heads, in making their cut upon the conveyed log, are adapted to be shifted so that the cutting profile of a selected set of heads is caused to be centered relative to the axial line of the logs travel path, and to provide for this shift the frame is mounted for reciprocal slide movement along a lineal path paralleling the rotary axes of the mandrels. As guides for this slide movement two rails 23 are provided, with an upper flange of these rails being engaged between rollers 24 and a hooking bracket 25. A double-acting pressure-fluid operated piston-cylinder assembly 26 powers the frame into the three positions which are required to perform said selective shift of the cutter-head sets.

It is to be understood that the leading end of the log, immediately after its traversal of the chipping station, is received between the first of a succession of roller sets. For the described four-sided cant, the rollers are cylindrical in shape and there are four rollers in each set. Two rollers 27 and 28 engage the cant from above and below and are or may be smooth-faced and joumaled for free rotation in fixed frames. Theother two rollers 30 and 31 are live rollers with knurled surfaces and each engages a respective one of the two flanking sides of the cant. Such live rollers are carried by frames (not shown) which either swing or slide in a direction lateral to the logs travel path into predetermined positions correlated to the sets of cutter heads by operation of suitable power means acting in concert with thepiston-cylinder assembly 26.

The FIG. 2 embodiment similarly shows a yoke-shaped slide-mounted frame, here denoted by 32, providing a thrust and journal mounting for plural sets of cutter heads, as 33-34, 35-36, and 37-38. In this instance the sets of cutter heads have a hexagonal profiling design, primarily to produce posts of this shape. As with the. four-sided cants, the leading end of the log, immediately after its traversal of the chipping station, is received between the first of a succession of guide roller sets. For the hexagonal cants, each set comprises only two rollers, 40 and 41, each having a double-coned configuration to provide a V-groove the slant slides of which are angled 30 from the rotary axis of the roller. The rollers are opposingly mounted from frames (not shown) functionally similar to those provided for the rollers 30 and 31, and this is to say that said frames 40 and 41 shift the rollers into positions spaced one from the other distances correlated to the size of cant for which the frame 32 is set. The two meeting flats which occur upon each of the two flanks of the developing six-sided cant receive a bearing from a respective one of the two V-grooved rollers, restraining the conveyed cant against either lateral deflection or turning about its axis.

It is thought that the invention will have been clearly understood from the foregoing detailed description of my nowpreferred illustrated embodiment. Changes in the details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention and it is accordingly my intention that no limitations be implied and that the hereto annexed claims be given the broadest interpretation to which the employed language fairly admits. in this respect, it may be pointed out that the sets of cutter heads may be mounted so that their cutting axes remain stationary, and the logs fed thereto along a selected one of several paralleling infeed channels each correlated to a respective one of the sets of cutter heads.

Iclaim:

l. A method of profiling a log to produce a wood product while moving the log along a travel path and in the course of the log travel the log is chipped to form at least one pair of parallel opposed flat surfaces, the method comprising employing as a profiling medium a plurality of cutter heads on a common mandrel, each cutter head adapted to chip the log on opposed parallel flat surfaces and on at least one surface normal to said parallel surfaces, said cutter heads being of varying size whereby the wood product produced is of optimum size predetermined by the size of the log being chipped, and means to cause the conveyed log to pass into engagement with the cutter head which produces the optimum size wood product.

2. A method of profiling logs in which the logs are conveyed along a linear travel path and in the course of their travel the logs are chipped to form flat surfaces in which a plurality of pairs of flat surfaces are diametrically opposed, the method comprising employing as a profiling medium a pair of matching cutter head unitscarried by a respective one of a pair of live mandrels journaled within a common frame for rotation of the mandrels and cutter head units about parallel axes extending transverse to the path of travel of a log, the mandrels being parallel with the diameter of the log and equidistantly spaced at opposite sides thereof, said cutter head units including a plurality of sets 'of'matching cutter heads mounted upon the mandrels and the respective sets of cutter heads being correlated to a given one of a plurality of log diameters, the method further including shifting the frame and contained mandrels and cutter head units at right angle to the axis of a conveyed log into a selected one of several prede termined positions each of which locates a related set of cutter heads in cutting position, conveying the log between the aligned set of cutter heads and simultaneously chipping all flat surfaces formed on the conveyed log.

3. The method of claim 2 in which four flat surfaces are simultaneously formed on the log to produce a rectangular wood product.

4. The method in claim 2 wherein guides engage the formed flat surfaces and bear against the surfaces to restrain the produced wood product against lateral deflection or turning about its axis.

5. The method of claim 2 in which the profiling produces a cant faced about the perimeter with an even number of meeting flats each corresponding angled relative to the adjacent flats. 

